


Midnight breakfast

by sloganeer



Category: The OC
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-02-05
Updated: 2004-02-05
Packaged: 2017-10-03 00:40:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sloganeer/pseuds/sloganeer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan doesn't know what a scam is, but he and Seth have one going on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight breakfast

**Author's Note:**

> For The OC Flashfiction challenge. for ljuser=quinnponders. prompt: Ryan/Seth, a torn comic, a lie, a missing sock. and I put some Anna in there, too.

Seth likes cereal in the middle of the night. When Ryan would come back into the house after Marissa went home, he would find Seth at the table with Corn Flakes, a ratty issue of Moon Knight, and the ninjas on the TV screen paused in mid-pounce. Seth would throw him a spoon, explaining how getting a jump on the routine left more time in the morning for Pro Skater.

Midnight breakfasts have become more popular in college when they share an apartment, and a bed, but no classes. But since the first email from a_stern_girl@brown.edu showed up, their midnight breakfasts have become Seth's all-nighters. He's up, chatting with Anna, reconnecting after too long. And Ryan hasn't had someone in his bed for a week. Even the promise of real sex hasn't dragged Seth away from his iBook.

"Seth. *Seth.*"

Ryan tries the name in different tones, and voices. Almost as effective as a look, he's found, but nothing like a touch. He sneaks up on Seth at the computer, still awake, still typing. Ryan's not at all worried about losing captainoats to vertigogo, not when Ryan's voice this time causes Seth's fingers to mash out an exclamation on the keyboard.

"You should come back to bed and fuck me." Ryan kisses the back of his neck, tugging at Seth's curls, pulling them out of the way. "Tell vertigogo to gogo."

"Oh no, you didn't." Seth drops his head back against Ryan's chest. His eyes are so big.

"Say goodnight, Captain."

Typing a quick "can't talk. kissing." Seth scrabbles at Ryan's collar, dragging him down to his lips. Ryan teases, pecking out kisses like Morse code, just enough to motivate Seth back to their room.

It's late. Ryan's learned to tell time by measuring Seth's energy level. He doesn't get his fuck that night, but he does get a very enjoyable blowjob.

-

"What kind of trouble did the captain and the go-go girl get into last night?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Ryan is making a real breakfast this morning, waffles and everything. He doesn't have class until three, and this is Seth's day off, one that he kills himself the rest of the week to have. He gets waffles for the blowjob, too, and Ryan woke up to another brilliant piece of work this morning. He gave Seth a little something in the shower, but the waffles are a nice touch.

"Except for this."

Seth does his best not to hide when Ryan turns around with a sigh and a fork in his hand.

"I knew it."

"Nothing big, man. Just, well, Anna needs a place to crash in Berkley."

"And you offered our sofa?"

"Well, why not? It's so lonely out there in the living room."

Ryan waved the fork around, then turned back to the sausages. "Fine, fine. When's she coming?"

"This weekend." Seth's come a long way since Summer; he knows how to break the bad news, fast and with no apologies. Like a Band-aid, he would say. Ryan doesn't have that talent yet, but he's learning.

"*This* this weekend?"

"In the fine tradition of Friday following Thursday following Wednesday, yes, this weekend. What's wrong with this weekend? You're not--" Seth gestures, twisting up his hand like an epileptic queen. "Are you jealous, Ryan?"

"I'm not jealous."

"Dude, you're totally jealous. Of Anna." Ryan's scowl doesn't shut him up, but then, it never really did. "I mean, not like we'd be better setting an Atwood precedent here, but--"

It's time for the Cohen Band-aid method.

"Your parents are coming down this weekend." Ryan doesn't even look up from the wafflemaker. He hears Seth stop cold, stumble back against the counter, and draw in a deep breath.

"What, what is this? Like, some kind of surprise inspection?"

"No inspection, Seth. Just..." Ryan slaps on a grin. "Surprise."

"I hate you," says Seth, but the waffles are done, so it doesn't last very long.

-

They pick up Anna at the airport in Ryan's truck (he got the truck, Seth got the computer). He gets out to help Anna with her bags, giving Seth a friendly shove to get the door. From the back of the truck, Ryan watches the two of them size each other up. Despite email, instant message, and the occasional phone call, the other members of the Newport Group haven't seen each other since graduation.

Seth jumps right in with an affected "'sup?"

Anna studies him a moment, then catches Ryan's eye. "He still doing that?"

"The bane of my existence."

Seth sees this conversation going bad places, and he claps his hands to grab their attention. "That was fun. Reminiscing over."

There's a scuffle at the passenger door. Seth wants to play the gentleman, but Anna is intent on shoving the boys together. Ryan tries the scowl again, then the glare, and they both jump into the truck. Seth gets settled in the middle, waiting until Ryan starts it up before playing with the radio. He busts out a little sitting dance move when he finds a station with a pounding beat.

"Drive on, pimp daddy." He gets a smack from both sides, but Ryan's is the one that counts.

"I love you, too," Seth tells him.

Anna laughs.

-

They take separate showers in the morning, a favor to Anna that Seth still doesn't understand when Ryan calls it a courtesy. They needn't have bothered; Seth still isn't dressed when Ryan gets out. He's standing at the dresser in his boxers, and a tank top that is almost certainly Ryan's. Seth does these kinds of things to get a rise out of Ryan, and it would be working if not for the one sock on Seth's foot that's caught Ryan's attention.

"The sock, Seth? At least give Sandy a challenge."

Seth isn't listening. "I have one argyle sock. Do you know how wrong this is?" He's digging in his underwear drawer, flinging socks and such now that he has an audience. "It's my thing. You have the wifebeater, I was workin' the t-shirts, but everyone and their dog is doing that. Seriously, you should have seen these dogs on the home shopping network. I put a lot of work into making argyle cool, and I can't do it with one sock."

"I don't think you can do it at all." Ryan does these kinds of things to get a rise out of Seth.

"Can I do the wifebeater? Do you like this?" Seth asks, puffing up his skinny chest.

He tries so hard. That's what Ryan loves because, if Seth didn't try so hard, they wouldn't be together.

"I think it looks better on me. What do you say?" Pulling the shirt off Seth, Ryan lets his fingers drag over all the sensitive places. "I'm gonna wear this today. Under my shirt. Where everyone can see it, but only you can know."

Seth does an amazing impression of a fish; he practices every day. Ryan takes advantage and kisses his open mouth.

"Do you know how hot that is?" Seth groans.

Ryan leads them over to the bed, forcing Seth to hang on when they fall. "I have an idea."

When Ryan manages to drag himself away, he finds his pants and a shirt to go on top, a dark blue one that Kirsten bought and sent in one of her many care packages. When he looks back to the bed, Seth is laid out, boxers riding dangerously low, but exactly where Ryan left them.

-

The Cohens will be here any moment, but, surprisingly, the dinner preparations are going well. Comfortable, even, as the three of them move around the tiny apartment kitchen, Seth on potatoes, Anna doing vegetables, and Ryan keeping a careful eye on everything. It's his job to make sure the place doesn't burn down. That's always his job.

Anna and Seth are something of an anomaly. They're not the kind of exes Seth and Summer are, or Marissa and Ryan. But they're a different kind of friends than he and Seth were before, so Ryan doesn't worry. He enjoys watching the two of them, humming together, peeling to a beat that Ryan identifies as "Rawhide" when he leans into Seth for a kiss. That's when the intercom buzzes.

"Oh God." Seth spins around, peeler in hand, and looking a little lost. "Oh God," because it's all he can think of, and he can't make himself go to the door. Ryan rolls his eyes and does it for him.

"Thanks, man!" Seth yells amiably after him.

Ryan gets a hug each from Kirsten and Sandy, and when the rest of the hellos are done, Sandy leads him, with a hand on his shoulder, downstairs to the car. Kirsten couldn't help herself, and they did a little shopping on their way over.

"Just in case," Sandy tells him, shaking his head. He hands Ryan a brown paper bag of canned goods. "But you boys look like you're doing well. We miss you. If we thought Seth would allow it, we'd come by more often. You look happy, kid."

Things are a little strained, and have been since Seth and Ryan made their announcement. Nobody knows how to act, and Sandy, of course, goes overboard with the sentiment.

"I know things are weird, Sandy, but--"

"Of course, things are weird. Whose relationship isn't? But you know how Kirsten and I feel. We just want you to be happy."

They trudge back upstairs, an overloaded armful of groceries each so they won't have to make another trip. Sandy keeps the conversation going, knowing Ryan won't.

"Doing well in school?"

"Yes, sir."

"And what about our amazing Mr. Cohen?"

"He really likes Philosophy, actually. It lets him run at the mouth much more than he should be allowed."

They can hear Seth's voice already, behind the door, and at the end of the hallway.

"Mom. Touch the stove and I will not be responsible for what this peeler does to you."

-

The Cohens head back to their hotel sometime after midnight. No plans are confirmed, but Ryan expects them to show up and take the kids out to brunch the next morning. Seth is snoring on the couch, leaning with just the right angle for Ryan to smell his chocolate mousse breath with every exhalation. If anybody asks, that's why Anna is kicking his ass at Crash Team Racing.

"You two have a pretty good scam going on," she says, picking up a row of fruit before Ryan can get to it.

He's not sure what the correct response is, so Ryan goes with "thank you."

"I just thought I'd say something because I don't know if you thought I was here to steal your boyfriend. I'm not."

When she sets her controller down and turns to face Ryan on the couch, Tiny Tiger goes careening across the screen and hits an icy wall.

"I just miss him," she says, oblivious to the carnage.

"I didn't think it was anything else but that," Ryan tells her.

-

Later, in bed, Ryan lies awake. Seth didn't even open his eyes when Ryan led him from the living room to the bedroom and tucked him in. He was snoring while he walked, like he's snoring now, warm on Ryan's shoulder.

Ryan doesn't know what a scam is, but they do have a pretty good relationship.

Weird, but good.

"Hey, Ryan?"

He checks the clock--2:14 am--before turning towards Seth's sleepy voice and crooked smile.

"What would you say to breakfast?"


End file.
